Emotional Variation and Fertility Behavior

William G. Axinn (), Dirgha J. Ghimire and Emily Smith-Greenaway
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William G. Axinn: University of Michigan
Dirgha J. Ghimire: University of Michigan
Emily Smith-Greenaway: University of Southern California

Demography, 2017, vol. 54, issue 2, No 2, 437-458

Abstract: Abstract Emotional influences on fertility behaviors are an understudied topic that may offer a clear explanation of why many couples choose to have children even when childbearing is not economically rational. With setting-specific measures of the husband-wife emotional bond appropriate for large-scale population research matched with data from a long-term panel study, we have the empirical tools to provide a test of the influence of emotional factors on contraceptive use to limit fertility. This article presents those tests. We use long-term, multilevel community and family panel data to demonstrate that the variance in levels of husband-wife emotional bond is significantly associated with their subsequent use of contraception to avert births. We discuss the wide-ranging implications of this intriguing new result.

Keywords: Fertility limitation; Spousal emotions; Contraceptive use; Family change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s13524-017-0555-5

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